Secrets

The long day was about to draw its curtains.

Lin sat in his dorm room, surrounded by the familiar clutter of his life. His roommate, Feng, was sprawled on his bed, staring at his access tab. Meanwhile, Draco, their other roommate, was flipping through a book, muttering to himself.

"Rough day?" Feng finally spoke up, breaking the silence that had settled over the room.

Lin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, you could say that." He had hestitates before replying.

"What happened?" Feng asked, dropping his tablet to his side.

"My nose hurts from the hit i took during combat class," Lin replied, the memory of the training still fresh in his mind.

"Zhang, right? The guy from class A?" Feng asked.

Lin nodded, his jaw clenched. "Yeah. I was paired with him during sparring. The dude really dealt hard punches."

Lin rubbed his face again before continuing, "Draco was amazing too. He had taken out his opponent with a hit."

"What else would you expect? I am even scared of sleeping in the same dorm room with him. For all I care, he could shudder me to death in my sleep," Feng said, stealing a glance at Draco as he kept his eyes peeled yo the book lying before him.

"How did you know about the fight with Zhang?" Lin asked, adjusting in the bed to face Feng.

"It's a small campus, you know?"Feng said. He continued, "A lot of cadets were talking about how Lin had defended the Hiro bloodline in front of other cadets. And how his quiet roommate had put up a hell of a performance. A performance worthy of being the final show. My heart was bursting with pride hearing about it…"

Feng paused for a moment, his countenance dropping, "I performed terribly at my mecha class. I didn't even stand a chance. "

Feng smiled at Lin, "At least my roomies ain't making me look bad."

Feng stood up from Lin's bed and moved to his bed. He lay facing Lin, who was adjusting on his bed.

"It's training. You will get better as you proceed. You would need consistent practice though to get better, "Lin said to cheer his friend up, "with time, you will become as cool as Draco in combat. I just doubt you will be able to smell my back, though."

Feng burst into laughter.

"I wish. Where did you learn to fight like that?"Feng turned around facing the direction of Draco.

Draco flipped the book close, looking up to Feng who was anticipating an answer, "it is quite complicated. I would have to kill you both if I told you"

"What nonsense?!", Lin laughed, his curiosity taking a grip of him.

"Come on Draco, tell us. You can clearly see we are dying of curiosity. You have barely held a conversation with anyone since we got to the academy" Feng insisted.

"I stay away from people for I don't become a puppet for the voices in my head," Draco joked.

Draco got out of his bed and walked over to the Feng's bedside signalling for Lin to join them. He clutched his both fists extending them to his roommates.

"You have got two options, get to know my secrets and take your last breath tonight or you could go to bed wondering if I am capable of fulfilling my promises," Draco said, keeping his calm and composure. He had even let out a smirk when he mentioned killing them in their sleep.

"Well, whatever it is, I will prefer the loud one goes to sleep", Lin said tapping Feng on the Shoulder. Draco obviously wanted to keep his personal live to himself and Lin respected that.

"Now you are stealing my lines?", Draco said to Lin with a calm voice while returning to his bed, "I won't have to kill you for that though. Wise choice."

Draco is really scary, Lin thought to himself watching the muscular structure retreat to his bed and leaving Feng in a cold sweat.

How could Draco threaten killing them in their sleep? Should I apply for a change of room? Endless questions crossed his mind as Draco words ran in his head.

Once again the room became quiet, Lin lay in his bed on his back, with his eyes closed.

"Zen!" He thought.

"Trouble sleeping? Your brain activities are going crazy for someone who should be sleeping. You are 43 mins behind lights out", Zen replied, "i will play you some relaxing sounds. "

"That wouldn't be necessary, I would fall asleep in no time" Lin replied to Zen.

"I am sure you are unaware, but in the mind construct, your body is put to rest but your mind would be left to wander, think of it like a dream", zen continued, "the only downside is that your mind will have to get enough rest before your body awakes to prevent lapses during the day. Therefore, I recommend for you to be in this state for an hour, then your body will shut down to proper sleep. As you advance in level, and become more mentally capable, your duration in this state would increase."

Lin couldn't get used to his new system. It had a knack for surprising him.

"It keeps getting better," Lin thought.

He pulled up to stat bar, he had concluded to add the free stat to his Strenght after seeing Draco take out his opponent with a single blow.

"Zen, upgrade system"

The wristband beeped,

[UPGRADE completed]

[New skill unlocked]

[ HP: 60/60]

[ Speed: 15]

[ Strength: 9]

[ Stamina: 11]

[ skills: Juice lv1, Chronostasis lv1]

[ Exp: 20/200]

[Level multiplier: x1]

He added his free stat point to his strength, then went ahead to read the description of his new skill.

[User can slow down time and be able to stop time when user gets to level 15, while being unaffected themselves, or may also allow others to be unaffected. If the user moves before the time period expires, it would appear to look like teleportation.]

[Skill duration: 3 seconds]

[Cooldown: 15 mins]

"Hold on! Chrono…what now? What is that supposed to be?", Lin puzzled at the choice.

"Huh? Chronostasis? I had expected super strength or maybe invisibility. Why chronostasis?" Lin asked Zen, not being able to understand the choice of skill.

"The skill you get depends on your attributes. Your agility and speed are the core reasons why you have unlocked chromostasis. This skill gives you the ability to slow down the flow of time and make critical decisions while in combat", dictating the dopamine secreting in Lin's brain.

"Remember, when host dies, I will practically be useless. Therefore, it's my duty to pick out what's best for host. Chronostasis sits well with your speed, Lin" Zen finished.

The stat bar came in view again as Lin noticed he needed more points to level up this time.

"200 exp? How do I even achieve that?" Lin muttered disappointed, "that is four times more than the previous requirement"

"You have it too easy, Lin. The academy will be blown away to find out there is a technology capable of significantly upgrading a human", Zen's voice got deeper and meaner in Lin's head.

Zen paused for a moment, then continued, "To become the hero of your own ambition, you will have to make sacrifices and work harder than anyone else. I will present you a worksheet for your physical and mental training to get you in shape for what's to come"

Lin was excited for the ability to slow down time, even if it's for three brief seconds.

However, he had banked on getting a skill that would boost his strength so he can deal more critical damage on his opponent as he thought about the tournament of honors, were he had signed up to go up against rangers in the coming week.

Zen was going to help me out with his training, and he was certain that Zen wasn't going to let him take a fatal beating. If he can't take on the rangers on his own, he would permit Zen to go autopilot even if it would exhaust him.

A thought that had been bothering Lin surfaced as he shut his eyes preparing to enter his mind construct, "who really is this roommate and fellow cadet, Draco?".